Press Release Article

The Port Authority Police Department welcomed 77 new police officers - the largest class to complete the most intensive police training program in the history of the bistate agency - during a graduation ceremony today at the World Trade Center. \"Port Authority Police officers receive comprehensive, specialized training unlike any other law-enforcement agency in the world,\" said Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle. \"They are the best trained police force in the country. Our police officers are trained to handle emergencies at airports and maritime ports. In addition, they are certified first responders during medical emergencies, and they receive crash-fire-rescue training. They are trained to fight fires and to fight crime.

\"Port Authority Police officers save lives as well as protect them,\" Mr. Boyle said. He administered the oath to the new officers in front of their families and friends, as well as representatives of local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies.

\"The professionalism and hard work that these women and men exhibited during this rigorous 26-week training program will serve them well as they begin their new careers as Port Authority Police officers,\" Chairman Eisenberg said. \"Their presence here today is a tribute to their fortitude and tenacity.\"

Recruits stayed overnight in police barracks, building camaraderie and esprit de corps. They also received more rigorous physical training, and learned computer skills, conversational Spanish and use of portable heart defibrillators to revive victims of cardiac arrest.

\"Crime has been dropping steadily for the past decade at Port Authority facilities in New York and New Jersey - making those facilities safer for the hundreds of millions of travelers who rely on them each year. This unprecedented success is a tribute to the well-trained, hard-working men and women who make up the Port Authority Police Department,\" said Fred V. Morrone, the Port Authority\'s Director of Public Safety and Superintendent of Police.

Director Morrone also noted that today\'s class is the first to graduate under the command of Police Capt. Kathy N. Mazza - the first woman commandant in the history of the Port Authority Police Academy.

The Port Authority Police force is the nation\'s 26th largest law-enforcement agency, with more than 1,200 sworn personnel. Port Authority Police officers patrol Kennedy International, Newark International and LaGuardia airports, the agency\'s four interstate bridges and two tunnels, the World Trade Center, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, marine terminals in both states and the PATH interstate rapid transit system.

The Port Authority Police also provide aircraft rescue and firefighting at the three major airports.